If you are new here, first of all, welcome!
Second of all, you may not be aware that I love to read. At the moment, I am in the middle of five books: The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup, The Wives by Taryn Fischer, The Art of Screen Time by Anya Kamenetz, Cultish by Amanda Montell, and Abel’s Island by William Steig.
(I also have a book blog, which I post at far too infrequently.)
While I am nowhere near as prolific a reader as many of the people reading this post, I tend to read around 75 books a year. Books are one of my favorite things, and one of my favorite topics. So I was delighted to get a few reading-specific questions when I first posted my Ask Me Anything form.
1) NGS asked, “What book do you recommend the most often?” and Stephany asked, “What books do you find yourself recommending over and over again?”
Book recommendations completely depend on who’s asking and what they’re looking for. One of my all-time favorite books – and the one that popped immediately into my head – is The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. I thought it was written so well, the prose was so tight, the style so unique, the emotion so vivid… It is an example, for me, of a perfect book. But I can also acknowledge that it probably won’t appeal to everyone! The person who recommended it to me, for instance, read it and said, “I see why you loved this so much.” But it wasn’t his favorite book, it didn’t rock his reading world in the same ways it did mine.
My favorite genre of books is mystery/thriller, and I think my top recommendations change with time. The Round House by Louise Erdrich was a beautiful, heartbreaking mystery that I absolutely adore. For a great mystery series, I don’t know that you can get any better than the Alphabet Mysteries by Sue Grafton, or the Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson, or Sophie Hannah’s Zailer and Waterhouse mysteries, or the Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French, or maybe Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne and Horowitz series.
In thrillers, my favorites ebb and flow because there are so many fantastic novels being published every day. I adore A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, because the writing quality is exquisite and the shape of the story is so unique and so well-fitted to the subject. The Push by Ashley Audrain had not only beautiful writing, but wonderful pacing. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris was a heart-pounder with one of the worst villains I’ve ever encountered.
In historical fiction, of which I am admittedly not a connoisseur, I can’t imagine anything better than Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy. Although I did find Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone to be extremely engrossing, moving, and beautiful; it blends historical fiction with domestic suspense.
When it comes to romance, which is another genre I generally eschew, I find myself recommending The Royal We and its sequel, The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. One of my all-time favorite books is The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and that bridges speculative fiction and romance. Or, another all-time favorite, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss – which spans romance and literary fiction, and is one of the most beautiful, tender books I’ve ever read.
For literary fiction, the books that come to mind are The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagahira, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
We haven’t even touched on speculative fiction, or short stories, or non-fiction!
The horrible/wonderful truth of it is that there are SO MANY amazing books in the world, and none of us can ever read them all. But if you are looking for something specific, I probably have a recommendation for you.
2) NGS asked, “How do you fit in reading in your day?” If I read nothing else all day, I at least read before bed. One of the reasons I have multiple books going at a time is because I read via multiple methods. I usually have an audiobook, a print book (or several), and an ebook going all at once. When I dry my hair, which takes a good fifteen minutes, I read my Kindle. When I am in the car, or unloading groceries, or folding laundry, or going for a walk, I am listening to an audiobook. (Listening to audiobooks 100% counts as reading.) When I am waiting in the pickup line at school, or sitting outside one of Carla’s lessons or activities, I am reading. When I am eating lunch, I am reading. It adds up.
3) NGS asked, “Is Carla a big reader? What does she read?” Carla is what I might call a burgeoning reader. She has enjoyed audiobooks for years, especially everything by Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume. (I think she has listened to Socks about a hundred times.) Before around third grade, she didn’t have a whole lot of interest in reading books for herself outside of the Gerald and Piggie books by Mo Willems. But last year, she got really into a series called Bad Kitty, which she tore through… and then she found another series called Notebook of Doom, and we had to go to the library weekly until she’d finished every book.
Then, at the beginning of this year, I told her teacher that one of my goals for Carla is that she really love reading. Her teacher looked at me, very seriously, and said, “Oh, she will.” It seemed like mere days after fourth grade started that Carla had come home with a book – A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry – that she refused to put down. Suddenly, she was reading at meal times. She was rejecting my husband’s and my offers to read to her before bed in favor of reading to herself. She was gushing to me about the language style. She was dashing up to her room to get her book so she could take it to school. She was reading choice lines to me in the car. She was reading at recess.
It was like a switch had been flipped. Not only was she loving reading, but she was no longer intimidated by larger books with more words than pictures. She hasn’t found a book that has grabbed her quite like A Wolf Called Wander, but she is constantly in the middle of a book and she checks out huge piles of books from the library every time we go. It’s so gratifying to see her beginning to understand the magic of a really good book. (She is currently reading the newest Katharine Applegate book, Odder, which is a book in verse – a fact I did not know when I bought it for her. She is LOVING it.)
My husband and I still read to her every chance we get. He is currently reading her a book called The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch, although I don’t think either of them loves it a whole lot. I am reading Abel’s Island to her, because it was one of my favorites as a kid. I have a whole stack of books from my childhood that I am “forcing” her to listen to; I usually read to her when she is eating dinner (which is almost always before my husband and I eat) and sometimes before bed.
I could talk about books and reading all day. (Which is why I started the book blog… but apparently I don’t have enough time/wherewithal to make it a daily habit. Sigh. Maybe someday.)
Are you a big reader? What are you reading now? What’s your favorite genre? What book do you find yourself recommending over and over?
(And if you have any questions for me, about reading or otherwise, feel free to fill out my Ask Me Anything form.)
It seems as though I am doing NaBloPoMo this month, which is 30 blog posts in 30 days. (Will I make it??? Only time will tell.) Details at San’s blog here.
I am a reader!! Though since graduating from high school, predominantly non-fiction.
Right now I’m reading the second book in the Thursday Murder Club and Adam Grant’s book Think Again.
Hmmm. What book do I recommend the most? Gah. I don’t know. I’m a reluctant recommender because I always feel so bad if I suggest something and people end up hating it!
Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project literally changed my life, so I talk about that book (and her writing in general) regularly with people…
Recommending books is so hard! What if they hate it??? Will they hate you? Will you hate them?!
I read The Friend on your recommendation years ago and really liked it! Also loved The Namesake!
Right now I am reading Catherine Newman’s We All Want Impossible Things and am really enjoying it.
I agree with reading in bits and pieces throughout the day. If I have some spare time, I just read a chapter or so! It does add up.
My favourite book of all time is The Blind Assassin. I don’t always recommend it though because it seems to be pretty hit or miss with people. I also love Alice Munro.
I loved the Blind Assassin! It was so unusual!
I’ve always been a reader, in fact when I graduated college, I was so excited that I would FINALLY have time to read for pleasure again. I read mostly fiction and especially historical and literary fiction. Sometimes a good biography will captivate me. Right now I’m reading one a friend recommended called, appropriately for this conversation, “The Reading List” by Sara Nisha Adams. I’m not quite “into” it yet – never until about the first third of a book – but I can tell it’s going to be a good one.
Also, thanks for the recs! I immediately but the Wolf Hall series on my Christmas wish list!
Oh Lee, I hope you love it! I have to admit it took me a little bit of time to get into the style of the first book, but once I adapted I was hooked. It’s gorgeous prose, and so engrossing!
Your comment makes me want to give The Blind Assassin another try! I own it and read a chapter or two several years ago — maybe it will be a good fit now!
75 books is a lot, that’s about twice as many as I manage in a year. In a strange coincidence, I’m reading the Iliad to North and reading the Aeneid for book club but I wouldn’t say that was my normal style. I am enjoying the Aeneid more. The Iliad is just one gory battle description after another.
That is a strange coincidence! How did you and North choose the Iliad? Is it a school assignment?
No, they read the Odyssey for school last year and that made them want to read the Iliad. I am honestly afraid I am going to get the Iliad and the Aeneid mixed up and start talking about something that didn’t even happen in the book we’re reading in book club because while the Iliad is heavier on battle scenes, there’s plenty of stylistic overlap and some plot similarities.
Oh gosh I bet! Seems very potentially confusing!
p.s. Noah loved The Name of This Book is Secret and the rest of the series. I don’t think North ever read them.
I read a lot, not as much as I feel I should, though. I grew up with a mom who, when she saw me reading, would say things like, “Must be nice to be able to sit around and read,” and my husband does not read for relaxation, so I always feel vaguely guilty when I do read, and guilty when I’m not reading my pile of Books To Read. I have issues, I guess.
My latest favorite series is Elly Griffith’s Ruth McKenney series. The first is The Crossing Places. Set in Norfolk, all about a forensic archaeologist who specializes in bones. Very British, quirky sometimes. I’m also reading Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, which is making me want to move to Scotland and haunt a used bookshop.
I get the guilt, truly. There is always so much other stuff to do. That’s why I feel so efficient when I can fold a load of laundry and listen to an audiobook at the same time.
I wish I could like audiobooks. I don’t know why but it grates on me to hear somebody read a book aloud for long periods of time. Maybe it’s because when I read, I am reading “aloud” to myself in my head, or imagining the author’s voice, and that does not jibe with how audiobook readers sound. My mom once tried to get me to listen to an Erma Bombeck audiobook while on a road trip, and as much as I adored Erma’s writing, listening to it be read to me made me want to jump out the car door. While on the highway.
I also love reading and read a lot, though a friend started an online book club during the pandemic and I am not doing at all well on finishing those selections, which I feel somewhat bad about (or perhaps, it’s that I feel that I _ought_ to feel bad about it). I want to be exposed to new books! But ugh, if I start a book and hate both main characters 5% in, I do not want to waste my time. There are so many books out there to try.
I don’t recommend books all that often, though. It seems like such a tossup, recommending, and often I don’t love books that people recommend to me, even when they sound like I should. I will happily put books I’ve loved up on social media and gush about how I loved them, but not at all with a “you have to read this” tone.
So exciting that Carla is getting into reading! That must be such fun to watch.
I get this! I go back and forth between the two extremes of, “You should widen your horizons! You should read the classics!” and “Life is too short to read books you don’t like!” Sigh.
I’m adding “The Friend” to my TBR pile now! I just finished the new Robert Galbraith book (okay) and Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, which was quite good. During my commute, I’m listening to Less is Lost which I don’t love as much as Less but it’s still a pretty great travel-funny fiction book.
I feel like everyone adores Strout, and I haven’t tried her at all. Makes me want to jump on board the Strout train though!
I was a big reader then the pandemic came along and I lost my ability to focus on stories. Weird but true. Still haven’t gone back to reading a book a week, trying to read a book a month now. Of course I read LOTS in blogland, so I still read, just in a different venue. For now it’s good
Ally, the pandemic definitely affected my reading habits! It is only fairly recently that I feel like I am reading more “normally.” But it always ebbs and flows, right? Some periods in life are more supportive of reading than others. I hope you find satisfaction in what you read, and no stress about how much you are reading.
I’m a big reader. I think I’ve mentioned before in the comments that we had a book-themed wedding! My husband isn’t as much of a reader as I am, but also enjoys reading so it was a great theme for us. I actually read more now that I have kids than I did pre-kids which surprised me. But I can always fit reading in and say yes to way fewer social outings. And I almost always go up to bed at 8:30 to read for an hour before going to bed.
I have read and enjoyed many of your favorites except The Round House. Oof I Erdrich is not a fit for me which is a shame because she’s a local author so I feel like I SHOULD love her books. Our bookclub has read 3 of her books, I think. Most didn’t like 2 of them, all of us liked her latest book (which is escaping my mind – it’s set in her bookstore in Minneapolis and deals with the aftermath of the George Floyd murder).
A book I’ve recommended a ton this year is “Lessons in Chemistry.” I also have recommended a travel memoir called “Without Reservations” which is about woman who realizes her identity is so tied up in being a mom/her job so she takes a sabbatical and travels around Europe. My favorite genre is typically literary fiction but I also love memoir and have started to dabble in romance more since the pandemic as I needed happy endings!
I have Erdrich’s newest book on my bedside table! I’m sorry she isn’t a fit for you — it’s always such a letdown when an author people I admire/like isn’t a fit for me, but such is life I guess.
Yay for answering questions about reading. I’m obviously obsessed with it and have now added four books to my library requests and will bookmark this page for further reading ruts.
I think we read in the same way. If I’m not actively working or talking to someone, I’m reading or listening to a book or a podcast. I wonder a lot about what people who don’t read and what they do in doctor’s waiting rooms, although I suspect in 2022 they are on their phones (doing what? I don’t know).
I’m also really intrigued by Carla’s readings choices. I haven’t heard of those books (no surprise since I don’t have children) and I’m tempted to put A Wolf Called Wander on hold at the library. Screw it, five more books on hold at the library!
If I didn’t have a phone, I bet I could read 10-20 more books a year. It certainly pulls me, even though I don’t get the same comfort/entertainment/escape that I do from books. I did not read A Wolf Called Wander when Carla read it, and then she returned it to the library. But your comment makes me think I should! It really affected her!
What what what how did I now know about your other blog??????????????? Well I know now so I’ll see you over there!
When I was in grad school I didn’t have any time for personal reading, and since the day I finished I usually make time to read a bit before bed. It’s just 5-20 minutes, and I’m not taking on any grand masterpieces, but it’s time that I treasure.
I neglect the other blog terribly, Birchie. And I fully reject the idea that some books are more “worthwhile” than others. If they get a person to read and give her something of value, even if that is pure entertainment, than that’s worthwhile!
I love your description of your emerging reader. This is Dorothy, too, and it’s so fun to watch.
It’s so fun!!! I have to rein myself in a bit, though, because I am so eager for her to love reading as much as I do… but I don’t want to push and push and have her resist it just because I am being annoying about it.
I mainly read literary fiction, and loved “All the light we cannot see” and “Time travelers wife” (forgive the lack of capitals, I’m in the car waiting for my dog to finish at the vet) but I could not have hated A Little Life more. It stuck with me for sure, but OMG it seemed like torture porn to me. That poor man. I kept waiting for it to get better for him and it just never did. I always see it recommended though, so clearly I am in the minority.
It’s always fascinating to me that people have such different reactions to books. I love William Steig…haven’t read Abel’s Island since my daughter was young. 😊
I don’t know if I “recommend” A Little Life, per se… it’s such a hard one. I felt it was a really moving, well-crafted piece of writing, I guess. And I think about Jude all the time, even though I read it back in… 2016??? That’s good writing. But I have heard a lot of criticisms along the line that it is trauma porn, and I can understand that perspective even if it didn’t feel, to me, gratuitous.
You’re right that it is very good writing, and it stuck with me too. Some books are like that. 🙂
I used to read all sorts of books but since the pandemic started, I’ve read almost exclusively cozy mysteries. They are comfortable and predictable and I do not have room in my head for extra stuff right now. But someday I will read other books again. I’ve read a lot of the ones you mentioned.
And yes, I read all the time. Definitely before bed as I am falling asleep and I always have a book on my phone so I read while I’m waiting in line or sitting in my car outside the school or waiting on the oven to finish. I also do audiobooks while driving or cleaning so I have two books going at once too.
But Jen, how do you get through SO MANY? You have three times the children I do and easily read four times the books I do. Are you a very fast reader? At what speed do you listen to your audiobooks? This is why you need to return to blogging, to answer these burning questions! (Although that would probably cut into your reading time.)
I read really quickly. Like…really quickly. I read the last Harry Potter book the day it came out without getting up off the couch at all so…two/three hours? When no one bothers me, I can read a young adult novel in an hour. I’m generally getting through about a book a day, sometimes two or three on a weekend day if they aren’t terribly long. I do audiobooks on 1.5 speed and I can get through one in about three days. I was always in the slow reader group at school because my eyes and brain go so quickly on words that my mouth couldn’t keep up and I’d stumble over the words because my brain was already on the next page. (I’ve trained myself out of that as an adult.) Plus I read all the time. I have no trouble jumping in and out of a book so I’ll read like a page or two while I am walking up the stairs- that’s what I mean by all the time. Every opportunity, no matter how small. I have to keep library books in the trunk because I would find myself reading at red lights and you can’t do that. But the answer is really kindle app on my phone and a fast reading speed and light and easy books these last few years. Oh and I don’t really watch tv much at all. Matt and I watch a bit in the evening together but if he’s not around, I don’t watch tv. Which always sounds like such a smug thing to say which is why I never tell anyone.
I love that you have to keep library books in the trunk! And the tv thing doesn’t seem smug – it’s just a choice. When I choose tv my reading definitely suffers.
I love Horowitz too and found “The Round House” a deeply moving and well-written book. We love Erdrich in my book club.
She is a treasure. Her characters and the emotions they experience are so vivid.
This reminds me that I still need to read All the Light We Cannot See. I love to read, but I have more time to read in the summer. I’m currently reading Chocolat. I’m not loving it. Or, I’m too tired to read much by the time I read in bed that I just can’t get into it and I’m getting frustrated.
My college book club is where I get my list of reading choices. They just shared the titles the club has read for the last 14 years or something. I’ve only joined a few years ago, so I now have a great list of books to reference.
A few of my kids love to read, mainly Mini and Tank so long as it is history. Like, the kid would read history textbooks all day if he could. Not sure how I gave birth to him. Other kids aren’t all that crazy about reading.
I didn’t realize Chocolat was a book! That’s neat. But I understand the frustration of not being able to get into a book.
Okay come on, seriously, are we just each other’s stalkers? I loved The Round House. I love the Dublin Murder Squad books and Sophie Hannah’s series and the Jackson Brodie series and Wolf Hall. Okay, The Push I thought was masterful but I kind of tell people that but then add “but don’t read it”. And it looks like we read all the same genres. This is just getting spooky. Wait, do you like horror? Because I do.
I HAVE NEVER MET ANOTHER SOPHIE HANNAH FAN. And she is my favorite. I feel like no one can come up with bats*t scenarios like she can.
I DO like horror! Although I read it less. I just read Hide — have you read Hide? IT WAS VERY GOOD.
OF COURSE I’VE READ HIDE SUZANNE, WE’RE THE SAME PERSON. It WAS very good.
Ha! 😂 I need some good horror recommendations! Maybe there is room in your NaBloPo schedule for some recs???
*bookmarking this page to use to place holds at the library*
I remember when you were concerned that Carla wasn’t going to love to read for pleasure. I remember thinking at the time that there was NO way this child wasn’t going to grow up to be a reader. She’s found her groove and is on her way.
I hated “The friend”… haha…. and it reminds me once again why it is so hard to recommend books, because I know many people who loved it and recommended it, but it was just NOT for me.
I love how efficient you are with reading (having books on multiple media going at the same time). I usually don’t read more than two books (from different genres) at a time and I don’t really do audiobooks, so it’s usually a little more slow going over here 😉
Oh, San, my heart is broken!!! 😉
Oh no, how can I un-break it? Do tell!
Oh just because you didn’t love The Friend.
I like reading but feel like I never have time enough (or fall asleep over it because it’s so late). I started reading “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick and am optimistic that I can finish it before it goes back to the library. If you count audio books, I am doing much better because I can do it while doing something else. I am currently making my way through the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. One book that stuck with me is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafòn, so I would definitely recommend it.
I own the Ruiz but haven’t tried it yet! Clearly I must!
I am very impressed that you can read several books at the same time. I have only done that maybe once or twice — but I’d rather read and finish one at a time. And I can’t do audiobooks — because I get so caught up in the story, I miss my exits when I’m driving. That was quite a mind-opener that I drove to work every day so it seemed I had muscle memory (brain muscle memory?? 🙂 ) but I went several exits past so I realized I was a distracted driver!
My favorite genre is also mystery, and I love the Anthony Horowitz. He has two other mysteries besides the Hawthorne ones that a great as well. I’ve read Tana French, Kate Atkinson and of course Sue Grafton (still upset that she didn’t get to Z!) but I’ll check out the other ones you mentioned.
I’m so glad for you that Carla discovered a love of reading! When I was younger I read ALL THE TIME, and it kills me that my kids aren’t big readers. I’m still trying… sigh.
I admire my friends, who are big readers; I’ll be lucky to finish a few books a year. I blame the internet for this lack of book reading. I think I have five going right now, and I need to get back into the groove of reading.
My girls were big readers when they were younger, and my favorite memory of their childhood was us reading to them every night until around 7th grade.
This was so fun to read! Thanks for answering my question. 🙂 I always love knowing what other people recommend as I think it tells a really interesting story about one’s reading life!
I haven’t read MANY of these books. I didn’t love The Push as much as everyone else but I wonder if it’s because I’m not a mother? I remember really loving Behind Closed Doors and I looked back on my Goodreads review (5 stars – “This book was soooo creepy, and the ending totally delivered for me.”) I also loved The Great Alone, The Royal We/The Heir Affair, and The Time Traveler’s Wife. I loathed All the Light We Cannot See. I’m just not much of a literary fiction gal!
I’m astonished that a) I didn’t know about the book blog (HOW is this possible?) and b) that there is no overlap in our books-we’d-recommend. Did I miss nonfiction in there, or is that not a genre you prefer to read? (Loved this post, btw. I love all AMA posts!)
I think I have been a reader all of my life. However during my twenties books were not a constant in my life. I am glad I rediscovered it in my early thirties when the husband handed my his old kindle. How did I ever go without one.
I do read multiple books too. As you said different time different book or medium.
One book I wish. everyone to read is my most favorite “Solitaire Mystery” by Jostein Gaarder. He is most known for Sophies World but I find this one (he wrote it before but it was published later)much more interesting. It is three stories in one. I know it is an YA but it makes for a great book to read together.